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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TOKYO 000374
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR E, P, EB, EAP/J, EAP/P, EAP/PD, PA;
WHITE HOUSE/NSC/NEC; JUSTICE FOR STU CHEMTOB IN ANTI-TRUST
DIVISION; TREASURY/OASIA/IMI/JAPAN; DEPT PASS USTR/PUBLIC AFFAIRS
OFFICE; SECDEF FOR JCS-J-5/JAPAN,
DASD/ISA/EAPR/JAPAN; DEPT PASS ELECTRONICALLY TO USDA
FAS/ITP FOR SCHROETER; PACOM HONOLULU FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
ADVISOR; CINCPAC FLT/PA/ COMNAVFORJAPAN/PA.
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIPKMDRKPAOPGOVPINRECONELABJA
SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 01//06
Part-1
Index:
1) Top headlines
2) Editorials
3) Prime Minister's daily schedule
4) Deputy Secretary Zoellick in Beijing urges improvement in
China's ties with Japan, focusing on history issue
5) Prime Minister Koizumi in Diet reply denies being chided by
President Bush on Yasukuni Shrine visits
6) Japan to propose joint history study with China
7) Yamaha's Beijing affiliate helped Peoples Liberation Army
learn to use illegal drone helicopter it exported to China
8) US announces stricter inspection regime for beef going to
Japan in talks in Tokyo
9) Senior USDA officials stress safety of US beef, but no meeting
of minds in bilateral talks in Tokyo
10) True feelings of USDA Under Secretary Penn slip out during
press briefing
Articles:
1) TOP HEADLINES
Asahi, Mainichi, Yomiuri, and Tokyo Shimbun:
Livedoor admits window-dressing; Financial chief Miyauchi points
to Horie's involvement; Prosecutors to file charges against
company for window-dressing; Livedoor Marketing evaluated Money
Life's value six times its true worth
Nihon Keizai:
Top companies replaced in six digital appliance and information
equipment items; Matsushita becomes No. 1 in plasma TV, and Sony
in DVD recorder
Sankei:
Livedoor deleted 50,000 emails possibly to destroy evidence; Some
not retrievable
2) EDITORIALS
Asahi:
(1)LDP's responsibility: Horie was supposed to be Takebe's "son"
(2)Nago mayoral election: Political responsibility growing
Mainichi:
(1)Koizumi's Diet reply: Horie scandal not a separate matter
(2)H-2A rocket: Successful launches a path to restoring trust
Yomiuri:
(1)Japan Post Corp.: President Nishikawa must re-read his
proposals
(2)Nago mayoral race: Futenma relocation issue must be pushed
forward
TOKYO 00000374 002 OF 007
SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 01//06
Part-1
Index:
Nihon Keizai:
(1)Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission needs more
members and greater independence
(2)NHK's management plan lacks drastic measures
Sankei:
(1)Diet interpellations: Why is the Livedoor scandal a separate
matter?
(2)Illegal attempt to export unmanned helicopter; Greater
awareness for national security necessary
Tokyo Shimbun:
(1)Koizumi's Diet reply: "Separate matter" not appropriate
(2)NHK reform: Public trust essential for broadcaster
3) Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei)
Prime Minister's schedule, January 24
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Full)
January 25, 2006
08:01
Met at Kantei with Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Suzuki,
followed by Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Nagase.
09:01
Attended cabinet meeting in Diet building. METI Minister Nikai
remained in the room. Met with Environment Minister Koike.
10:01
Attended Upper House plenary session.
11:43
Returned to Kantei.
13:35
Met with Lower House member Yasufumi Tanahashi.
14:04
Attended Lower House plenary session.
16:26
Met at Kantei with Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein
Abe and Ambassador to Croatia Shirakawa. Met afterwards with
Indonesian Vice Minister Muhammad Yusuf Kalla.
17:12
Presented sumo grand champion Asashoryu with the prime minisrer's
award of the Japanese professional sports grand prize.
17:48
Attended informal party at Hotel New Otani hosted by People's
Political Association.
18:36
Returned to his official residence.
19:06
Met with LDP Secretary General Takebe, Upper House LDP Chairman
Aoki, and New Komeito leader Kanzaki.
4) Zoellick reiterates hopes for improvement in Japan-China
relations, focusing on historical issues, during talks with
Chinese vice foreign minister
ASAHI (Page 2) (Excerpts)
January25, 2006
US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, now visiting China,
TOKYO 00000374 003 OF 007
SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 01//06
Part-1
Index:
said yesterday that historical issues pending between Japan and
China had been taken up in his meeting with Chinese Vice Foreign
Minister Dai Bingguo. In the US, concerns are growing that a
decline in Japan's influence in Asia because of its strained
relations with China and South Korea could undermine the United
States' national interests. The issues of Tokyo's re-imposition
of a ban on US beef imports and US force realignment also lie as
a stumbling block between Japan and the US. Uncertainty is now
looming large over relations between Japan and the US.
In a press conference yesterday, Zoellick reiterated his
expectation for improvement in Japan-China ties, saying:
"Tensions are running between Japan and China, but the two
countries share common interests in economic and many other
areas."
In a press conference in Japan on Jan. 23, Zoellick had proposed
a joint study of the history of World War II by historians from
Japan, the US and China. The proposal reflected his desire to
reduce the tensions between Japan and China by Washington's
involvement. But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan
indicated a negative view about the proposal in the regular press
briefing yesterday. Quan said: "The history of Northeast Asia has
a specific nature. Relevant parties to this specificity are
China, South Korea, and Japan."
Seeing Tokyo unable to repair its ties with China, the US has
begun to take different views toward it. A senior Japanese
government official who recently visited the US commented: "In
the US, an increasing number of finance officials in the Bush
administration have voiced concern about a negative effect of the
strained Japan-US ties on the Asian economy."
At present, there are many issues pending between Japan and the
US. On the issue of transferring US Marines in Okinawa, no
progress has been made in negotiations between the US government
and Japanese defense authorities. On US beef, Japan decided to re-
impose a ban on imports only a month after Tokyo lifted its ban.
If this issue is protracted, dissatisfaction with Japan might
erupt again from the US Congress.
5) I have not received any criticism from US President over
Yasukuni visits, says Koizumi at Diet
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Full)
January 25, 2006
The House of Representatives resumed a question-and-answer
session regarding Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's policy
speech and other matters during its plenary session yesterday
afternoon.
In response to a suggestion that the US government and the
Congress are concerned about his visits to Yasukuni Shrine, the
Prime Minister emphatically said: "I have not received any
criticism from President Bush about my visits to Yasukuni Shrine.
The US government understands my true intention behind my shrine
visits."
Koizumi was responding to Japanese Communist Party Executive
TOKYO 00000374 004 OF 007
SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 01//06
Part-1
Index:
Committee Chairman Kazuo Shii, who stated: "The Japanese
government has received a letter from House International
Relations Committee Chairman Henry Hyde expressing his regret
over the prime minister's series of visits to the shrine."
Shii and Social Democratic Party Diet Affairs Committee Chairman
Yasumasa Shigeno also repeatedly criticized the Liberal
Democratic Party for backing former Livedoor President Takafumi
Horie in last year's Lower House election. But Koizumi denied his
responsibility as LDP president, saying, "(The arrest of Horie)
and our support for him are two separate matters."
6) Government to propose launching joint history research during
Japan-China vice ministerial dialogue on Feb. 10
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Full)
January 25, 2006
The Japanese and Chinese governments agreed yesterday to hold a
vice-foreign ministerial comprehensive policy dialogue in Tokyo
on Feb. 10-11. In the meeting, Japan plans to propose launching
joint research on history in fiscal 2006. Japan aims to set the
stage for mending relations with China, which have been strained
due to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni
Shrine.
A committee of historians of the two countries will be
established to discuss ancient to modern history for several
years to deepen mutual understanding.
But the two countries may become increasingly at odds. Wrapping
up three years of joint research, Japan and South Korea produced
a report last June. The report listed the two countries' separate
interpretations of the 1910 Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty as the
opinions of the two sides had clashed over the validity of the
pact.
Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi and his Chinese counterpart
Dai Bingguo will attend the comprehensive policy dialogue. Japan
will request the resumption of mutual visits by Japanese and
Chinese leaders and foreign ministerial talks. The two vice
foreign ministers will also discuss the Yasukuni issue, the
suicide of a Japanese diplomat at the consulate general in
Shanghai, and reform of the United Nations.
7) Peoples Liberation Army possibly received robot helo training
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 26) (Full)
January 25, 2006
Beijing, Tohru Shiraishi
Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd., headquartered in Iwata, Shizuoka
Prefecture, is alleged to have attempted to illegally export
industrial-use unmanned helicopters to China that can be diverted
to military use. In this connection, BVE, a Beijing-based Chinese
science and technology firm tied up with Yamaha, is suspected of
having built a robot helicopter training base with the People's
Liberation Army and conducted manipulation training, sources said
yesterday.
TOKYO 00000374 005 OF 007
SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 01//06
Part-1
Index:
According to Chinese media reports, including the electronic
version of the Suzhou Daily, an organ newspaper of the Chinese
Communist Party in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, BVE's Suzhou branch
and a PLA air force unit built China's first unmanned helicopter
flight control training base at an airbase in Suzhou around
December 2003. The base is believed to have been used in order
for BVE engineers to conduct and demonstrate robot helo flight
control training for air force personnel.
In August 0221, BVE, tied up with Yamaha Motor, introduced
Yamaha's industrial helicopter design and systems engineering.
The company is said to have developed an unmanned helicopter
under Yamaha's guidance and trained manipulators. Yamaha's
technologies are also suspected of having been diverted to the
Chinese military.
BVE, working together with a Chinese research institution, has
actually employed robot helicopters in aerosurveying, environment
monitoring, border policing, and smuggling control and
prevention, the Suzhou Daily says.
8) US beef issue: Government urges US to strengthen measures to
prevent recurrence at bilateral working-level talks; US expresses
its stance of stepping up inspection procedures
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 5) (Full)
January 25, 2006
The governments of Japan and the US yesterday held their first
working-level talks at the Foreign Ministry, following the
finding of the inclusion of spinal columns, which could contain
high-risk mad cow disease materials, in a US beef shipment to
Japan. During the meeting, the Japanese side urged the US to
quickly find out why such materials were included in the shipment
and take measures to prevent a recurrence. The US side, including
Undersecretary of Agriculture J.B. Penn, indicated a stance of
making efforts to beefing up the domestic inspection system.
US officials once again offered an apology for the incident and
said that the incident was a human-induced error. They then
elaborated measures to prevent a recurrence through toughened
safety control, including an increase in the number of inspectors
and the implementation of sampling tests.
At a press conference held the same day at the American Embassy,
Penn offered an apology to Japanese consumers, saying, "The US
would like to sincerely apologize to Japanese consumers." He then
explained: "The violation occurred at a facility that has scant
exporting experience. It is an isolated case."
Penn said: "The spinal columns in question are defined as deemed
safe according to international standards, but they are not
authorized in Japan." He also noted: "The chance of being
involved in a car accident when one is driving a car to a
supermarket is greater than the chance of contracting a disease
by eating beef." He played up the safety of US beef. He at the
same time indicated his real feeling that he wanted Japanese
consumers to act in a cool-headed manner.
TOKYO 00000374 006 OF 007
SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 01//06
Part-1
Index:
The US will shortly present to Japan a report on the
circumstances that have led to the violation of the bilateral
agreement and measures to prevent a recurrence. The Ministry of
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Ministry of Health,
Labor and Welfare will scrutinize it and then decide to lift the
import ban, if they reach a judgment that the safety of US beef
has been confirmed. However, since the removal of the ban will
require understanding and support from a broad spectrum of
concerned parties, such as political circles and consumers, the
government will likely find it difficult to handle the matter.
9) Second ban on US beef imports: US stresses safety of its beef
at bilateral bureau director-level meeting, but differences in
safety consciousness exposed
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 9) (Full)
January 25, 2006
Following the halting of imports of US beef due to the inclusion
of specified risk materials (RSM) for bovine spongiform
encephalopathy in a Japan-bound shipment, the governments of
Japan and the US yesterday held a bureau director-level meeting
at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in Kasumigaseki, Tokyo.
During the meeting, the Japanese side urged the US to thoroughly
investigate the cause of the incident and take measures to
prevent a recurrence. After the meeting, the US stressed the
safety of US beef, presenting measures intended to prevent a
recurrence, which had already been released, while reiterating
its apology for the incident. The meeting revealed differences in
safety consciousness of the incident between Tokyo and
Washington.
The meeting brought together MOFA Economic Affairs Bureau
Director General Kaoru Ishikawa, Ministry of Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) Food Safety and Consumer Affairs
Bureau Director General Hiroshi Nakagawa and Ministry of Health,
Labor and Welfare (MHLW) Pharmaceutical and Food Safety Bureau
Director General Yoshiyuki Matsumoto from the Japanese side and
Under Secretary of Agriculture J.B. Penn and Deputy Under
Secretary of Agriculture Chuck Lambert from the US side.
SIPDIS
The US side reported to the Japanese participants that it had
removed the two facilities involved in the violation from the
list of beef exporters to Japan. It then explained the outline of
12-item measures to toughen inspections, which it released on
Jan. 20. The Japanese side responded: "Since the cause of the
incident has yet to be found out, we cannot immediately judge
whether the US' measures to strengthen safety inspections are
appropriate or not."
Emerging from the meeting, Nakagawa told reporters, "What is
important is what has caused that incident. We believe it is
vital for the US to employ appropriate measures, based on the
results of the investigation."
In the meantime, Penn at a press conference held at the US
Embassy made an apology for the incident, but insisted: "The meat
processing company involved was recently put on the list of beef
exporters to Japan. It is not well versed in international trade.
The incident this time is an isolated case." Underscoring that US
TOKYO 00000374 007 OF 007
SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 01//06
Part-1
Index:
beef is safe, he noted that the US would continue to ask Japan to
further ease import standards, if imports of its beef resume,
following the recovery of trust of Japanese consumers in US beef.
10) US Under Secretary of Agriculture lets his real feeling slip
out: Chance of being hit by a car greater than chance of coming
down with BSE
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 9) (Full)
January 25, 2006
Meeting the press after the Japan-US bureau director-level
meeting, US Under Secretary of Agriculture J.B. Penn yesterday
stressed the safety of US beef. He noted: "The chance of being
involved in a car accident when one is driving a car to a
supermarket is greater than contracting a disease, by eating
beef." Though the US remains apologetic for the inclusion of
specified risk materials (RSM) in its beef shipment to Japan,
Penn apparently let what he really felt slip out.
He urged Japan to take a balanced stance and view the matter from
a scientific perspective. His statement, however, could upset
Japanese consumers, who are sensitive to food safety.
Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns made a similar statement
SIPDIS
when the second case of BSE was discovered in the US last June,
by comparing the incident to a traffic accident.
SCHIEFFER